I went to the u-pick patch yesterday and picked lots of strawberries. I'll freeze some and make jam and dry the rest. They are excellent dried. Stem, wash and slice them; lay them on a sprayed drying rack (IF you have an eletric food dehydrator) plug it in. That's all you do. Also, has anyone dried watermelon? Did you like it?

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 31, 2000

Answers

Cindy, at what point are strawberries "done"? I don't have much experience, but I was given an Excaliber (second-hand) a few months ago and hope to get lots of use out of it. Dried watermelon sounds yummy! Anyway, are the strawberries brittle or pliable? Thanks, Cathy

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), May 31, 2000.

Cathy, the strawberries are pliable and the seeds crunchy. They'll be dull and no moisture should appear anywhere. Let me know how yours turn out, I don't remember how long they take to dry, but in Indiana we have a lot of humidity-unless the air conditioners on. You might want to dry bing cherries, they look a lot like raisins when dried. I dried potatoes last year but haven't used them yet-I will. They look like what you get in store bought au gratin dinners. I dried spinach and chard to put in noodles-another I will. The only problems I had were zucchini, yellow squash and turnips, they all drew moisture. Maybe someone can help me here. Dried tomatoes are great. Dry banans dipped in either honey water or pineapple juice, I really like them in the pineapple juice; they don't get brittle like store bought for me, but then they don't have white sugar on them. Dried nectarines are a nice treat. I dry herbs like basil and parsley in the dehydrator. Dried celery and green peppers are great to have on hand. Have fun playing with your new toy.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 31, 2000.

Never thought of drying watermelon - but then again it doesn't stay around long in this house! The boys LOVE it and will eat it 3X a day if they could...

My personal favorite is dried apricots, though apples (esp. if it's a sweet variety) are a close 2nd. Dried tomatoes are lost on me, though the wife likes to add olive oil and seal 'em in jars - then she uses it in pasta salads, etc.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), May 31, 2000.

I did strawberries last year to add to our oatmeal. It was a lot of work and they never made it to the oatmeal! They were gobbled up as fast as I could make them! I think watermelon would be hard to dry because of the high water content. I can't wait to try out the jelly recipe!

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), June 01, 2000.